Air carrier flight crew reported there may have been GPS spoofing and jamming during cruise flight in international airspace. The flight crew requested and received vectors from ATC and the GPS and navigation systems returned to normal later on in the flight.
Synopsis
Air carrier flight crew reported there may have been GPS spoofing and jamming during cruise flight in international airspace. The flight crew requested and received vectors from ATC and the GPS and navigation systems returned to normal later on in the flight.
Narrative
Suspected GPS spoofing and jamming caused our navigation to degrade for about 20 - 30 minutes between LSO [VOR] and GULOT. Turned off radio NAVAID inhibit to no avail; as NAVAIDs were not being received either and the inertial navigation was wildly inaccurate. We requested and received vectors from Yangon; and then Kunming Control for the duration of the irregularity. The Chinese Controller didn't seem surprised by our situation and repeatedly asked us to report when our GPS was restored. His calm demeanor struck the FO and I as odd and it seemed almost as if this was an expected event. We heard at least one other aircraft report losing their navigation system as well. Some indications that we had in the cockpit were UNABLE RNP; ATC FAULT; DATA LINK LOST; TERRAIN POSITION; and RUNWAY POSITION. SATCOM was also not working. Everything returned to normal about 25 minutes after the initial problem and functioned normally for the remainder of the flight.Cause: Suspected spoofing; and jamming of GPS and possibly NAVAIDs and SATCOM.
Second reporter narrative
While with Yangon Control; approximately over LSH waypoint; we suddenly showed that we were UNABLE RNP. We followed the checklist. Then; the bottom right hand of the navigation display showed we were navigating only by Inertial Navigation System (INS). The Position Reference page showed that we had no GPS; and no VOR. Now our navigation display showed us far right of course; and continuing off to drift further right. At this point we suspected GPS spoofing / jamming. We attempted to bring VORs online by turning NAV RAD INHIBIT off to no avail. We asked Yangon for vectors. To our surprise they vectored us in three successive turns *further right* to keep us on course. Clearly; our INS incorrect; and we had absolutely no correct navigation data. Thankfully Yangon provided sufficient vectors. We were transferred to Kunming Control. Before I checked in; I heard another aircraft saying they were negative GPS as well. Upon check-in; we were surprised that the controller seemed unfazed when notified that we needed vectors because we could not navigate on our own. In fact; it seemed he was expecting it. He issued us a vector and told us to notify him when" we had our GPS back. We got it back almost immediately. However; our track still showed us several miles right of track - 7 miles on the left side; 17 on the right. It was not until about abeam GULOT that we fully regained trustworthy navigation ability. Cause: Suspected spoofing / jamming.Suggestions: I have experienced jamming elsewhere several times. This was far worse. It eliminated all of our electronic means of navigation. I suggest continually monitoring VORs when nearing China in attempt to catch spoofing early before the INS is fed bad data."
Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.